A new level of dirty tricks in Macomb County politics?

Macomb County’s colorful history as a political battleground where candidates engage in bare-knuckled campaign fights may have reached a new level this month as an opponent of state House candidate Pete Lucido urged a boycott of those businesses supporting him.

It appears at least three businesses have been targeted by the boycott -- Vince and Joe’s produce, Ocean Breeze restaurant, and Sorrento’s Pizza -- all located along Shelby Township’s Van Dyke corridor. The letters say the proprietors should be blacklisted “until they are out of business.”

Letters distributed by a person attributed as Chad Lange call on voters in north Macomb’s 36th House District to avoid establishments that support “liberal Democrat Pete Lucido.”

However, Lucido, in his first run for office, has campaigned as a conservative Republican as he vies for victory in the August GOP primary. The candidate labels the boycott letters as a new low in “dirty tricks” campaigning.

State voting records show no one named Chad Lange is registered to vote in Macomb County. The Lucido campaign has been unable to track down any residents of the House district named Chad Lange.

The form letter was mailed earlier this month, with no return address, to certain households, according to Lucido. But it’s unclear how many letters were distributed and how many businesses may have been targeted.

A restaurant manager at Ocean Breeze, a popular eatery that relies mostly on repeat customers, said he was unaware of the boycott letters and none of his customers had indicated receiving the correspondence or raised questions about it.

Lucido, an attorney, is running against Shelby Township Clerk Stan Grot in the August GOP primary. The winner will face perennial contender Robert Murphy, running as a Democrat, in November.